When Wayne was a Whippersnapper: Benjamin Musser, master penman

By PAUL LOCHERStaff Writer Published: October 8, 2012 4:00 AM

SMITHVILLE -- One of the most famous names to be associated with Smithville and Smithville High School was Benjamin Musser, master penman.

In the mid-1800s, a new fad was washing across the country -- a decorative form of penmanship and cursive writing promulgated by Platt Rogers Spencer.

Spencer, who was born in E. Fishkill, N.Y., on Nov. 7, 1800, and died in Geneva on May 16, 1864, believed America needed its own distinctive style of penmanship that could be written quickly and legibly, as well as elegantly, for both business matters and personal correspondence.

Spencer developed this style of penmanship, which came be known as Spencerian calligraphy, and opened a school of instruction to teach it. Eventually it was adopted for use in schools and became the standard for U.S. writing until the 1920s when the spreading popularity of the typewriter for business communications rendered it obsolete.

Gradually the elaborate Spencerian cursive was replaced with the Palmer method of writing developed by Austin Norman Palmer.

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Spencerian writing, however, has not vanished from the American landscape. It is still being used in many aspects of American life. The Coca-Cola and Ford Motor Co. logos are both examples of Spencerian script that survive to the present day.

A well-known Wayne County practitioner of this decorative script was Benjamin Musser, who was born in Lancaster County, Pa., in 1815. In 1833, when Musser was 18 years old, his family moved to Ohio. His father purchased 40 acres in the heart of what is today Smithville. Ironically, Musser cleared the land, planted potatoes and hoed corn on the very site where he eventually gained notoriety as one of the nation's most accomplished penmanship artists.

Described as always being "of a studious disposition and diligent in all his undertakings," Musser had made such progress in his studies before coming to Ohio that he found no difficulty in finding a teaching position in his district for the winter term. That term lasted three months and Musser was paid $9 per month, out of which he paid his room and board.

Musser, who was heavily involved in farm work much of the year, devoted what spare time he had to studying and teaching during the winter months. In all, Musser taught 35 terms of school, 32 of which were in his own district, with the other three terms in an adjoining district. The highest salary he was ever paid was $20 per month.

Source: "Smithville Days" by James L. Orr

Wednesday: The Musserian System

Reporter Paul Locher can be reached at 330-682-2055 or plocher@the-daily-record.com.